Baptism
by Wicked R
Summary: Little snippets from the life of Castiel as seen through the eyes of younger Dean, the End!verse, where he spends more time than Zachariah had initially sent him for.
1. Rock Star

Title: Baptism

Disclaimers/note: I don't own anything to do with Supernatural, so much so I don't even watch much more than Castiel's scenes. That's it. So pardon my ignorance and the mistakes I may make due to my unfamiliarity with this universe.

Set: TheEnd!verse.

Summary: little snippets from the life of Castiel as seen through the eyes of younger Dean, where he spends more time than Zachariah had initially sent him for.

Genre: varies per snippet.

Pairing: varies too ;)

Chapter 1: Rock Star

The camp was quiet, even quieter than usual, Dean noted. Even though it was well into the afternoon, he had not seen his older alterego yet and he had been somewhat thankful for that. Of course losing most of the world and his brother to Lucifer would've made everyone bitter, but the violence and nonchalance oozing out his future self surprised the hunter a little. Whatever changes it took him not to go down this road in the time ahead, would be made, but for the time being he was stuck in this timeline till Zachariah bothered to get him. Dean doubted the highly ranked angel sending him here would let him die as it would've defeated the purpose, but he wondered how long his exile would last.

In the meantime, he was ordered to make himself useful by their "fearless leader" as Castiel called Dean. Frowning, he tried to remember any instance where his angel addressed his older self by his given name, but no, it was only the sarcastic "fearless leader" mention. He would've wanted to know what went down between the former friends, but older Dean had hardly given his younger self any consideration and the angel turned human had spent his time stoned or with the ladies, or both. So Dean has made himself useful as suggested instead and tried to complete the tasks Chuck has given him the best he could. Currently this was going through a trunkload of batteries to determine which ones had still had some charge left in them.

He had been doing it for over an hour uninterrupted till the sound of an engine coming closer could be heard from the distance. Almost immediately, Risa's cabin door opened and the other Dean marched out shrugging his shirt on as he went. With a fuming expression, he stood with his arms folded in front of the spaces they usually parked their trucks at.

As the landrover approached, a singing voice could be heard and soon Dean from the past could determine it was Castiel's voice and Wake Up Little Suzie. Young Dean had to blink in wonder, there were many things that fazed him in this alternate universe.

The next incredulity was the camp top dog stepping to the door of the car even before it came to a halt and yanking the ex angel out from the driver's seat in a way that Dean was sure it would bruise any human. "Who gave you permission to leave the site?" Roared the kingpin, his shoving making Castiel fall to the ground, not hard to do as he was clearly tanked up well.

"I'm not infected, fearless leader, I wouldn't come back here then, would I?" Castiel slurred, getting himself off the grass, "it's quite possible that I'm actually immune. Come on fearless leader, the number of times I was splattered with Croat blood!" He sauntered over to the back of the truck, "hey Omar!" He shouted at their approaching comrade who came to see what the commotion was about.

"I don't believe it!" Omar held out his arms so Castiel could place into them what he lifted out the back of the truck, a case of Scotch whiskey Laphroaig.

"I've got three cases actually," Castiel boasted, "it's the Museum Centre, still mostly intact, especially the café. I figured the Croats didn't try it much cause it was largely closed down for renovation before the break out. So who wants expired shortbread, lemons, peanuts, coffee beans, tea bags, pretzels and an extensive selection of fine wine from Chateau Canon to Malbec Rose?"

"You risked your life for a few dozen crates of alcohol again?" Older Dean pushed through the gathering of people eager to take a share of the acquisitions.

"Well, I've got toilet roll on Chuck's request," Castiel opened one of his Riesling bottles, "and some Coors for you. It's in the back."

"I don't need it," Dean grumbled impatiently, "I need to talk to you in private."

"Laateer," Castiel chugged some booze, then started sharing out the drinks to slightly reluctant gang members. While Cas was the only person Dean ever let openly oppose him, the others were still waiting for the leader to calm down.

"I've also got you M&Ms and some Metallica album," Castiel shoved the items into Dean's hands.

"Because risking your life for M&Ms is so much better?" The older Winchester squashed the box of chocolate peanuts he was given in his hand aggravated, but didn't burst it open. Food after all was scarce and to be treasured around here.

Castiel rummaged in the truck and shoved something else at his friend, "a stainless manifold header or Chevy small block hugger SBC El Camino C10 K10, as it says on the packaging," he read up loud, "whatever that means."

Dean opened his mouth, then shut it, staring at the item for a moment before blowing the air out his lungs and some of the anger with it, "I need a lot more than that to fix the Impala."

His ex angel shrugged, "later maybe? Now, I've got some perfume and sex toys for the ladies," he headed off in the direction of his mediation hut.

"I thought you were at the museum complex?" Dean shouted after him, but you could see he was well disarmed by his friend by now.

"There aren't any butt plugs at the museum shop, fearless leader," Castiel explained as if Dean would've been dopey, but made sure to throw another box of M&Ms at the younger Dean as well before disappearing with his ladies waiting in front of the curtain of his hut.

Tbc


	2. Axial Tilt

Chapter 2: Axial Tilt

Momentarily distracted by the peculiar sight, disentimed Dean stared at the stack of money notes lying in front of a malfunctioning ATM in the mall they were raiding for possible supplies in the storage rooms. It was a routine mission, venturing out of camp for gathering provisions was something they were doing at least twice a week, but for this Dean the sights of apocalyptic America was still a novelty.

"Move along," he felt his back being tapped with Cas' rifle, "cover the elevator entrance till I check in the back," the ex celestial told him blandly, not questioning Dean's compliance as he simply went ahead and opened the storage room's door.

The hunter doubted there was any electricity in the building to make the lift work, but directed his gun towards it nonetheless, checking for other possible threats among the aisles of the upmarket gift shop they were in at the moment. It was quiet all around, apart from the distant rustles their group members were making in other stores. Dean doubted any Croats would've been interested in the extravagant stationary, leather handbags and wedding albums in this shop and he had no idea why Castiel had chosen this particular location for his search, but Dean was quite happy following him when they partnered him up with his angel because previously he hardly had much chance to talk to the new-fangled human. Although Castiel had expressed his favouring the younger Dean as opposed to the one from current times, the hunter felt there was something that must've happened between the two friends that raised a wall between them and even younger Dean felt its effects. Not to mention he had not heard Castiel mentioning as much as one serious subject to anyone the whole time he was there. It was clear the ex angel was implementing some sort of avoidance plan, drowning himself in drink, drugs and sexual sensations, with the occasional rock and roll thrown in for good measure. In true fashion of his present philosophy of life, the trenchcoatless man that was strange to see, came out the store room of the gift shop with a bundle of lingerie, candles, sweets and fudges, his gun in his belt so he can carry some extra Ayurvedic tea.

"Dean!" Castiel's thunderous bellow started him and he looked wildly around himself, having earlier been quite certain he had secured the area all around. Cas dropped his acquisitions, breaking the glass candle containers and waggled his gun free, running past Dean without any regard to jump up to the barrier that was there to make sure customers wouldn't fall down from the first to the ground floor. Castiel however, had every intention of falling, in fact he jumped, firing continuously as he went down.

The hunter turned, ready to open fire himself at whatever the threat was, but by the time he got to the handrails, it was all over. His older version was standing below with his mouth slightly open, somewhat dumbstruck, with two Croats lying with their heads exploded behind him at close proximity and Dean had to realise that for once, fearless leader has been addressed by his real name.

"Son of a bitch!" Older Dean got to his senses, charging forward to kneel by Cas' side and grab him by his collar, "who told you to defend me! Who told you to leap off ten plus feet you twat! You're not an angel, such a thing could injure you pretty bad!"

"You didn't see them assbucket. A millisecond and you would've been bitten," Cas retorted back, trying to break free.

"Do not put my life before yours' plonker, do you understand me!" Dean shouted in Cas' grimacing face.

"Fearless leader.." The fallen man whimpered.

"I want you to promise me you will never do that again!" The leader of the survivors pulled his friend up towards himself.

"You're hurting..me.." Castiel panted, breath noticeably uneven.

"You're hurt." Dean blanched, lowering his rescuer down a lot more carefully than he had picked him up. "Where does it hurt?"

"I think I've broken my leg again. Probably same place," Castiel bit his bottom lip, a fist clenching his trousers leg.

"You bloody idiot tosser!" Dean let out his frustrations once more, then knelt down next to his comrade, this time approaching gently despite his words, "are you hurt anywhere else?"

"I don't think so," Castiel lay back flat nevertheless, alarming the otherwise fearless leader with his pale face and pained expression.

"Chuck! Find all the first aid boxes on this floor! Omar and Rob! Get one of the display tables so we can put Cas on it! Risa! Check our exit! Taylor! Get a couple of jumpers from the clothing store for padding! Cobie! A long piece of wood or something for immobilisation!" He barked frantic orders at the survivor group whose members gathered back around him from all over the mall to the sound of commotion. "Are you sure nothing else hurts?" He addressed Castiel. Trying to unbutton Cas' jacket so that he could check him over himself.

"No." Castiel pushed the searching hands away gruffly, "I said no. Uhm..personal space?"

"That's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard coming out your mouth and there was a fierce contest!" Dean blew a gasket, rolling his eyes, but left the fallen angel alone for the time being.

"Some painkillers would be nice though," Castiel asserted.

"Is that why you broke your foot?" The hunter countered, then sighed, "I'll get Dean Jr. to raid the chemist's for you," he looked up at his doppelganger.

It wasn't something the time traveller had to be told twice. Castiel was top priority for both of them.

Tbc


	3. Coordinates

Chapter 3: Coordinates

Dean didn't quite understand why his older self wanted to keep such tight reigns on him. Zachariah had to have him back safe and sound in his own time, besides, he wouldn't be stupid enough to venture anywhere all by himself on a terrain and amid circumstances he wasn't familiar with. But his older self didn't let him choose for himself and he soon learnt to do as he was told for peace's sakes, just like the rest of the survivors did. So younger Dean slept in his double's cabin, which was actually quite handy for clothes and the like.

It was only a few days after their undertaking where Castiel had broken his leg for the second time, thus it surprised both Deans when their angel opened the door and shuffled in, leaning heavily on his cane at 2 o'clock in the morning.

"Something wrong, Cas?" Older Dean stood immediately and went over to help his friend to the bed.

Castiel waited till he was sitting comfortably with his leg lifted onto the covers before speaking, "you don't plan on leaving me behind when you go looking for S..Lucifer's vessel, do you?"

"Cas." Dean sat down beside him, "you know you're in no state to fight. You'd slow us down."

"I could handle the truck, I can still drive, it's my left leg that's broken."

Dean shook his head, placing a hand on Castiel's shoulder, "I'm only taking a handful of fighters. There's no reason to endanger all of you."

"What's your planned itinerary?" The injured man changed subject.

"I was going to check out some demon lairs in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and Wichita for clues, for starters."

"What routes are you taking?" Castiel repeated his question in a different way.

"Why does that matter?" Dean frowned uncomprehending.

"I would like to know if you're going to pass by…" Castiel pulled a piece of paper out his trousers pocket, "coordinates 38°59′23″N 94°38′10″W? We might get help from the demonic resistance against Lucifer there."

"Cas. We haven't heard from any remaining resistance for months. It's very unlikely anybody is alive."

"I know some are," Castiel asserted with a firm voice.

Dean looked him up and down penetratingly, trying to keep himself from building up false hope that there was still some fragment of angel mojo left in him, "how do you know?"

Castiel hung his head, avoiding eye contact. "Cass!" Dean urged him, grabbing the injured man's shoulder in between his index finger and thumb. "How would you know!" The leader of the opposition demanded.

The grace-less angel jus sighed, biting his lip, still avoiding looking at Dean. He reminded the hunter of a Castiel he hadn't seen in a long time, one who was embarrassed of his life choices and cared about what the Winchesters thought of him, long before the indifference of the post-apocalyptic world set in. So he sighed himself and let Castiel take his time, only gently prodding, "talk to me, Cass."

"Romans 8:38," Castiel whispered.

"Romans 8:38, you gotta give me a little bit more than that man, I'm not all that familiar with the bible, especially not these days. What does Romans 8:38 say?"

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from love," Castiel recited.

Dean pursed his lips, shaking his head in different directions, discontented. "Love, huh? Cause I see so much of that around!" He rolled his eyes.

"It's not what the verse says, our fearless leader. Or, not all of it. It's not relevant. But it's the one and only part in the bible that mentions both angels and demons in the same verse."

"Uhum," Dean frowned, drumming his fingers on his leg, "and?" He considered shouting at Castiel to continue, but refrained from it at the last moment given how his guardian warrior had his foot broken for him.

"Well, I have a radio. As you know we've stopped searching for survivor transmissions last year, but I still turn it on every night and tune it to 83.8MHz. Verse 8.38, get it?"

Dean raised his eyebrows and blinked in confusion. "You knew demons would want to communicate with angels on that frequency?"

"No, didn't. I just hoped that if Meg thought about how to contact me she'd think of that. And tonight, she did," Castiel broke into a smile, his eyes sparkling, "she didn't take part in the initial fighting, she simply holed herself in and she's alive. I told her we'd go get her."

"Let me get this straight. You turned on the radio every night to some random frequency hopeful that your demonic crush supposed the same?"

Castiel shook his head, smirking, "I detect a note of jealousy, our fearless leader."

Dean grunted. In another time, in another universe, his suppressed feelings would've mattered, but the one they were in was a messed up one and so he ignored the comment and picked up the piece of paper with the coordinates instead. "Cas. We don't have all that much fuel. And even if we had, why would any sane person think she's on our side and not Lucifer's? I will certainly not buy that. We are not going there."

"She will not sell me out. Never. I know that."

"Why? Cause you gave her some unparalleled, soul merging heavenly orgasms?"

Castiel blew the air out, vexed, "you have no idea how it feels to combine humanly physical union with the merger of immortal powers. I know her inside out and I know what she needs."

"Really Cas? Really? I truly thought becoming feebly mortal crushed the last remains of your condescension. After everything she has done in the past, you assume that she'd choose you above the reason she gave her life's work to. As an angel, you were an asset for her, maybe, but I don't see why she'd care now."

"Things change our fearless leader," Cas spat through tight lips, miffed, but used his former charge's attitude. "Meg changed. Look, if it's a trap, you now got the colt. It just means you get to Lucifer quicker."

"There aren't many things I have control over these days, Cas. But facing Lucifer, that will be on my terms and that's my final word on the subject."

Castiel nodded. Not entirely discontented looking, yet somewhat blasé, he clambered into a standing position. "Very well our fearless leader."

"Cas, wait. You need to understand, I'm the one left to make decisions in the interest of the remaining survivors. It's not an easy position, but someone's gotta do it and what you're suggesting doesn't fit. You need to understand that. To be honest, I want the mission off the ground by the day after tomorrow and I'm not taking you. I need ablebodied men, you capisce?"

"I understand, fearless leader, I understand everything. I didn't expect your reaction to be different actually, but one sometimes wishes there were still miracles," Castiel said harshly.

"Let me help you down the stairs," Dean winced at Castiel's limping and heavy use of the cane.

"A few bottles of Vyvanse would do fine instead, I know you had some brought in a couple of raids back."

"Sure, Cas, I'll bring them over in a minute," Dean agreed, happy to oblige him with something he was able to give, despite having kept the drugs back previously for his friend's benefit.

Tbc


	4. Intention

Chapter 4: Intentions

Dean ran towards the sounds of gunfire, already sensing it would all be over before he could ever get there. For once, his older self prevented him from a face off, perhaps understandably as it was Lucifer they were ambushing. In accordance with his fears, Dean had to run past the bodies of all the people coming to the mission he became friendly with in this timeline over the last couple of weeks to come to a halt in front of a white building with a small, flowering garden so out of place in the general devastation that was the battlescene of the apocalypse, where Sam-Lucifer held Dean's alterego by the throat, colt safely tucked into the archangel's belt.

The devil turned at the sound of footsteps, joyously smiling when seeing who approached and discarded of the weight he'd been holding up with his fingers by throwing his brother's body to the wall where the older Dean remained unresponsive and limp. The time traveller couldn't know for sure if his other self was dead or alive.

"No see for years and now there are two of you visiting! How lovely!" Sam-Lucifer opened his arms wide in a welcoming gesture, "I'm so happy that both of you can see the glory that is my victory! It's all over brother, you don't have any weapons left against me," he patted the colt on his side.

"Are you sure about that, you uppity, shit-stained nutsack?"

"Castiel?" Sam-Lucifer marvelled at the ex angel's sudden appearance without any flutter of wings, "I must say, I liked being called assbutt a lot better." The devil then burst out laughing, "your loyalty's gonna get you killed one day dear Castiel. Your poor foot, is it broken?" He eyed the splint on the newcomer's leg and the way the shorter man was keeping his weight off it. "How did you get here, huh? If I didn't know any better I'd say that entrance of yours stinks of demonic powers."

"You're right," Castiel admitted without more ado, "a friend let me borrow some for the purpose of.." He raised his hand and made the colt jump out of Lucifer's belt.

"A friend?" Sam-Lucifer grabbed hold of the pistol in the air, "a friend who's just as useless at invisibility as you are at telekinesis." He waved a hand to reveal Meg standing next to Castiel. "I'd like to know why you changed sides before I kill you," he pulled the woman close through the air on a whim and let her hover a few inches away.

"Have you ever heard of love?" Meg challenged, smirking. Her bravado had always been brazen, but her being confident in this situation didn't quite make sense for Lucifer. He shook his head, "but it isn't love that makes you so eager to defy me."

"No. It's my predilection to collect things," Meg opened her palm to let four rings tumble to the ground right under Lucifer's feet.

"Bvtmon Tabges Babalon," Castiel recited at the same time, making a hole open right under a surprised Lucifer's feet before a closing spell could be said. The demonic archangel tried to grab onto Meg not to fall but as the woman was suspended in the air, he couldn't reach her. Cas moved as fast as his legs allowed nevertheless to circle his lover's waist just in case. Two Deans jumped at his aid, making sure it was Lucifer who went down and nobody else.

"You're saying I'm reckless? Insouciant was it?" Fearless leader scolded his guardian, shaking him by the shoulders as soon as Meg was out of danger's way.

"Not at all Dean, not at all," Castiel took Meg's hand cheerfully, not noticing in his happiness that he had used the hunter's given name or perhaps because of his state of mind. "I wanted Lucifer to think I was using borrowed powers. But in fact I'm not!" He held two fingers to his friend's forehead to heal the injuries caused by his possessed brother.

"How? How did you do that?" Both Deans inquired curiously. "Miracle? Again?"

"No. When it comes right down to it, Lucifer is an angel. My powers left when the angels left. So if I'm in such close proximity to him as I was, it's quite a feasible assumption that my mojo will be back as powers feed off each other."

"But now that he's down in hell? How long do you think you can retain them?" Older Dean frowned.

Castiel shrugged, getting rid of the splint on his healed leg, "I'm guessing tonight at least," he winked at Meg and pulled her close.

Meg licked her lips, eyes sparkling with delight, "those are good but I don't mind if you use your hands too Clarence," she held on to the angel. It was hard to tell which one of them made the pair disappear together.

The End.


End file.
